Kaede's Love
by ManticSky
Summary: Drabble. Kikyo was always the better miko... DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA.


Kaede's Love

Kikyo was always the better miko. When their parents died, she took care of herself and her Kaede, being not only a sister, but a mother as well. She was always the prettier one, with her long, straight charcoal hair and deep brown eyes. She was so kind and generous; flawless, even. Until she met him.

Kaede was the easily forgotten little sister. She'd tag along after Kikyo, depending on her like a daughter would her mother. Her injury made beauty an impossible idea, even though she also had long raven hair and her one good eye was a beautiful mocha color. She was also kind, but she often grew frustrated with herself, and this made her irritable. She was anything but flawless, but she didn't have a problem with that. It's just when people would look at her and say she was "not nearly as good as Kikyo-sama", she began comparing herself to Kikyo, to see if it was true.

Kaede knew about InuYasha's feelings for Kikyo. It was written all over his face when Kikyo walked away. The sarcastic sneer would turn into a gentle sadness. Kaede couldn't help but feel sorry for him, being a lowly and degraded hanyou. In a way, she kind of understood him. They both wished to be something they weren't, after all.

When he saved her from the youkai attack, her heart fluttered all around like a captured bird. To think he was not so wrapped up in her older sister to save her, it made her very glad. She looked up at him, and saw him looking at her, shining in the sunlight. Concerned about her, if only for a split second. She would smile at the memory for years to come.

When Kikyo sealed him to the Goshinboku, Kaede didn't understand why. Kikyo died, and it was all the hanyou's fault? Somehow, she found it hard to believe. Be it a young girl's naivety or just disbelief, it didn't matter. In her soul she knew that the man who had saved her, a human he didn't even care about, could not have killed her sister. But how could she tell people that? What evidence did she have? So she quieted, and held her affections secret.

So everyday for fifty years, after her miko duties were finished for the day, she crept out to the woods in the twilight with a wet cloth and cleaned his face of dirt and grime. She would keep his hair from tangling in the branches, and dusted off his haori the best she could. Then she would lean her head against his chest and relish in the feeling of being held by a man. He smelled like the woods, and even though there was no heartbeat, he was warm.

As she matured, so did her affection for the inanimate boy.

When she was twelve, she kissed him on the cheek, and hugged him for a little longer than necessary. When she was fourteen, she gave him a gentle peck on the lips, enough to feel his lips stay completely still for two seconds. She was nearly caught, but it turned out to just be a rabbit rustling in the bush. When she was seventeen, she kissed him fully on the mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck. Though he didn't kiss back, she was almost sure she felt his face get just a little bit warmer, though it could've been her imagination.

And then she turned twenty, and he didn't look quite the same anymore. It got worse when she turned twenty-five. As she got older, he started looking younger and younger. Eventually, she couldn't love him the way she had. Her raven hair started graying, and the skin around her good eye became saggy. She gave up on love; on beauty, on romance. She gave up on her childish dream of being accepted as anything but "Kaede-sama".

Now, Kaede is old. Her heart still aches for her broken dreams, but she has moved on. She saw Kikyo come back, and InuYasha reawaken. She saw him fall in love yet again with another woman, and they finally avenged her sister's death. But that changes nothing. She's still just a minor character in the lives of the important ones. People address her as "Obaa-san" now, and undoubtedly her life will be at it's end in due time. She still does not love, nor want, nor feel. She is too old to change.

Kaede is still easily forgotten. Her injury makes beauty impossible, and her kindness has slightly soured. She takes her frustrations out on the youkai she purifies, and she is anything but flawless.

However...

She finally got to marry the man of her dreams... to her sister's reincarnation. Her dream of romance came true, in the way they look at each other. Her dream of beauty came true in a small black haired, golden eyed child whose first word was "miko". Her dreams of love and acceptance come true, as the young couple smile and name their daughter:

Kaede.

**(Author's Note: I came up with this drabble in about a day. I know it's not perfect, but I wanted to try this. Please review telling me what you thought of it. ^_^)**


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